The Day Before I Leave

1:30 - It's hard to focus. There's so much to do, and I can't decide if I'm wasting time or not. I'm not taking my external hard drive with me abroad. It will stay here, safe, so now I'm thinking about my laptop (whose battery has as of yesterday completely stopped working, so it's now a low-powered, light weight desktop for all intents and purposes) and how it's very very sick and it'll be a miracle if it lasts until next school year, even with the little one to take the pressure off. And I've decided that now, while I have the external hard drive handy and haven't installed photoshop or office yet, is the time to reformat it and start as clean as I can for the upcoming year. So I've got three computers up and running and transferring files, backing up etc... and the washer and dryer are both full and spinning, and I've still got a big mess of things to sort through from the road trip and stuff to try to fit into my suitcases for Scotland and Spain, and tilapia sitting in the fridge needing to be made into soup yesterday.

6:30 - Time is going by frightening fast, but I'm making progress. Almost all the laundry is done. All my files are backed up now, all my memory cards are reformatted. I've started packing in stages - first the camera bag, then the purse, etc... currently the technology and most important documents are all packed up, so that only leaves clothes and optionals, of which there will be few. Microsoft word is busy installing on both computers - tricky as one of them didn't have a CD drive, so I had to go through the network, and one of the letters in the product key was illegible. But hey, there are only so many possible letters, so eventually I got it to work. I still want to install PCtools and Photoshop tonight, because there could be problems with those that require phone calls. The camera software would be nice to do, too, just so that I don't have to bring any CDs with me. I tried calling for permission to return my spare battery - turns out I'm 3 days past the 15 day return limit, but I have a myriad of excuses for that and the person on the phone implied that if I called back on Monday I'd fairly easily be able to obtain an override from a supervisor. The fun continues...

8:30 - Word, antivirus, instant messengers, and media programs are all installed and running fine. Photoshop is installing now. I took Tidbit for a walk and saw my last American sunset for a while. It wasn't anything spectacular, but the colours seemed super-saturated, almost fake and grainy-like, even the blue. I'm making a shopping list for tomorrow: black socks, a white jacket, proper deodorant...

10:30 - The soup is finishing up now. I hope it's good. Lots of carrots and celery - maybe one cup each? - and a whole onion, and three yukon potatoes, and four tilapia fillets, and some vermouth, and a can of chopped clams in clam juice, and salt, and pepper, and thyme, and cayenne pepper, and garlic - and butter... and finally I'll add the cream and the milk. It hits me that I haven't eaten today, except for three pretzel m&ms and two town house crackers.